Committees Pass LA Councilmember Felipe Fuentes’ “Green Streets” Motion

Felipe Fuentes

We’re proud to have helped LA City Councilmember Felipe Fuentes’ Green Sustainable Streets Motion (Council File 14-0748) that yesterday was approved to move on to the full City Council.

Streets have been part of LA’s water problem for too long. They’ve been built as conduits to funnel stormwater quickly out into storm drains, creating polluted runoff along the way. Instead, streets can be part of the city’s “green infrastructure,” allowing stormwater to soak into the ground, into tree roots, and through other natural filters so that we not only lessen water pollution, but we capture a clean, secure local water supply.… Read more >>

KCET SoCal Connected: Capturing Rainwater One Rain Barrel at a Time

KCET SoCal Connected Interviews TreePeople's Andy Lipkis

Last month during the height of the scant LA rainfall, KCET SoCal Connected’s Val Zavala interviewed our Founder and President, Andy Lipkis on the importance of capturing every drop that falls to wean our city off imported water and strengthen our local water supply.

 Read on for the full story and be sure to watch his interview with Zavala.

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You can bet that it doesn’t rain cats and dogs here in Southern California. But that’s no excuse not to prepare and capture the rain that does fall.… Read more >>

4 Ways to Spread the Tree-Love on Valentine’s Day

No matter if you’re celebrating “Single’s Awareness Day,” or if you’re spending the day with your sweetie, TreePeople has your tree-love needs covered!

Get Some Fresh Air: Take a Trip to Los Feliz for a Park Tree Planting!

Jared Leto Tree Meme 

In honor of St. Valentine, we’re spreading the love in the heart of LA at a very special tree planting. Feel free to come stag, or with that special someone. You can look forward to get your hands dirty to put some Deodar Cedars, Catalina Ironwoods, Incense Cedars and Tonyons in the ground to make this LA park even more beautiful!… Read more >>

TreePeople Hosts 70 Fullbright Scholars

Fullbright Scholars visit TreePeople

I’ve shared our park on hundreds of tours in my six-year tenure at TreePeople including curious residents, City Council staff, State Legislators and even the Mayor of a Mexican city. All these experiences have been rewarding. However, this past week, we had the unique pleasure of hosting 70 Fulbright Scholarship students.

The group was having their annual enrichment seminar centered on “Civic Engagement – Environmental Initiatives for a Sustainable Future,” which  fits right in with our work here in Los Angeles.… Read more >>

TreePeople Stands with Mayor Garcetti to Hack this Drought

Even with the recent rain, we have a long way to go before California’s drought can be considered over, with nearly 95% of the state is still in “severe drought.” That is why TreePeople is offering our support to help achieve the goals set out in LA Mayor Garcetti’s Mayoral Directive, issued in October, “Emergency Drought Response – Creating a Water Wise City.”

We believe that our city can achieve water-security in an increasingly water-variable future, and that this Directive is a bold leadership response to a critical need.… Read more >>

CNN.com: Los Angeles can teach us how to conserve water

TreePeople has a vision for LA’s future. For decades, our Founder and President has held a dream for a sustainable locally sourced water supply so we can thrive even with California’s long term water crisis.

Despite the city’s reputation of being parched, Angelenos have the power to create change right in their backyards by using solutions like rain barrels and even trees to capture the precious water that does fall. What’s more, the city and local agencies can also support this move into a greener future by rolling out the implementation of policies, technologies and incentive programs.… Read more >>

TreePeople in 2014: Drought Action, Integrated Agency Collaborations and Expanding our Reach to Angelenos

Volunteers in the Santa Monica Mountains

TreePeople’s 40-year legacy of using nature to heal our cities reached a pinnacle this year. In response to the historic drought, we grew our work in LA’s neighborhoods, schools and homes, made headway in our mountain restoration projects, and expanded our policy work to share solutions with agencies for a more drought-secure, climate-resilient LA.

We reached new heights despite climate challenges and limited resources. All this said, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish our goals without the devoted support of our volunteers, partners, educators and donors.… Read more >>

Concrete and Mulch: Industrial Downtown gets the Green Treatment

Coach Ron cares for trees in LA's downtown

Skid Row and its surrounding communities often are labeled with associations of sprawling concrete and warehouses, rampant homelessness, drug use and destitution. Though green spaces and trees aren’t a big part of the landscape (yet), this neighborhood is a vibrant corner of the city that offers a place to begin again to its residents who often have nowhere else to go. There is a thriving art scene, colorful community and a palpable sense of altruism here that often goes uncelebrated by the mainstream.… Read more >>

Wall Street Journal: L.A. Considers Ways to Collect Rainwater

LA is turning a corner toward being a more water-secure city, and TreePeople is proud to be a principal partner in the city’s Stormwater Capture Master Plan. This cross-agency vision is providing tangible hope for weaning LA off our vulnerable imported water supply. Though change is beginning to happen, there’s a long way to go. Read more in this story from yesterday’s Wall Street Journal:

LOS ANGELES—A bone-dry span of eight months has come to a close as rainstorms finally drenched the Southern California region.… Read more >>

Reimagining California’s Water Infrastructure

The UCLA Anderson Economic Forecast brings business and water leaders together to consider the implications for the city’s water supply in light of the drought and projected long-term water shortages. I’ve been invited to share an emerging approach that with investment, could help not only with the immediate drought, but create a substantial part of our long-term water supply.

There are big choices to be made prior to investing billions on infrastructure to help the region meet its urgent water-related needs, adapt to increasing climate threats and strengthen its economy.… Read more >>